Tropaeolum majus
L. NasturtiumTrailing or climbing annual with stems to c. 2 m long or more. Leaves peltate; petioles to 60 cm long, attached slightly eccentrically; blades c. circular to reniform, 3–13 cm diam., with c. 9 main radiating veins, often waxy, sparsely glandular to pilose beneath; pedicels c. equal to petioles or slightly longer. Flowers yellow, orange or red, usually streaked darker internally; calyx 12–20 mm long (excluding spur), lobes free for c. 8–15 mm; spur narrowly conical, 18–35 mm long; petals obovate to c. orbicular, 12–25 mm diam., upper pair with claw glabrous, 2–6 mm long, lower 3 with claw bearded, 5–10 mm long; stamens about as long as claws of lower 3 petals; style shorter than stamens. Mericarps c. semicircular, 7–10 mm long, ribbed dorsally, slightly fleshy. Flowers Sep.–Jan.
GleP, VVP, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, EGL, HSF, OtR. Also naturalised SA, NSW. Native from Colombia to Bolivia. Widely grown as an ornamental. Naturalised in sandy soils in a few lowland sites, mostly near the coast (e.g. Port Campbell, Black Rock, Clayton, Mornington Peninsula, Marlo).
Walsh, N.G. (1999). Tropaeolaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 242–243. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
